Fantastic Netbooks » Dell

Dell Mini 1012 Quick Review Roundup

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:00:18 +0000

Battery life was a clear strong point for the Dell Mini 1012 with reviewers

The Dell Inspiron Mini 1012, to give the netbook its full name, is the most recent of the Mini 10 lineup and is the best of the bunch. We roundup the reviews for the Mini 1012 pointing out its good and bad points before giving our own verdict.

Before we get into the Dell Mini 1012′s reviews, let us remind ourselves of the Dell’s specification:

Dell Mini 1012 Specification

Intel Atom 1.66Ghz N450 processor
1Gb RAM
250Gb hard drive
10.1 inch WSVGA screen
1024 x 600 pixel resolution
3 x USB ports
Wifi – 802.11b/g
Bluetooth
1.3 megapixel webcam
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter Edition
6 cell battery – 8.5 hours battery life
Weight – 1.3Kg

Go to the full specification for the Dell Mini 1012.

A specification only tells you so much about a netbook so what do the reviewers think? Let’s start with the good points.

Dell Mini 1012 Good Points

Battery Life – all 4 reviews were thankful for the long battery life of the Dell Mini 1012 with 8.5 hours quoted. CNet, Notebookcheck and Computer Shopper all tested the Mini 1012 in real use situations and found the battery life to be between 6 and 7 hours in total. Somehow, Expert Reviews got almost 9 hours out of their Mini 1012 so not sure what they did to get that much life out of it, probably nothing, i.e. no WiFi, no web surfing, no using the Dell netbook.

Design - another area that the majority agreed upon was the design with CNet stating that it was ‘sophisticated’ whilst Computer Shopper went as far as ‘gorgeous’. Expert Reviews stuck with ‘stylish’ whilst notebookcheck didn’t mention the design specifically in its good points, instead noting that the case and hinges were stable.

Keyboard - both Notebookcheck and Computer Shopper picked out the keyboard as being very good, superior and much improved over previous Dell Mini 10′s.

Resolution - the larger screen resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels offered by the Dell Mini 1012 was highlighted by Notebookcheck and Expert Reviews. However, the configuration offered by many retailers is with a screen at a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.

Silent - Notebookcheck ran lots of tests to do with noise and heat and found that the Mini 1012 is particularly silent in its operation.

Build Quality – Notebookcheck also appreciated the stable case and hinges of the Dell Mini 1012.

Colour Options – Computer Shopper was taken with the different colour options available with the Mini 1012, so they listed that aspect as one of their highlights.

LoJack - Computer Shopper also appreciated the fact that Dell offer 1 year subscription to the LoJack theft recovery service although this only appears to be offered in the US and not when purchasing UK Dell Mini’s.

Security Extras – Another good point from Computer Shopper is for the ‘security extras’, which we think they mean the McAfee SecurityCenter antivirus service preinstalled on their Mini 1012. This software is included and, according to the Dell UK website, you get 15 months subscription.

Dell Mini 1012 Divided Opinion

Smooth HD – straight onto the first point of disagreement with reviewers is whether the Dell Mini 1012 can play video smoothly with Notebookcheck being convinced that it can whilst Computer Shopper, Expert Reviews and CNet all explaining that streaming video is stuttery.

Dell Mini 1012 Bad Points

Touchpad - practically all the reviewers, with the exception of CNet, highlighted the touchpad as being a poor area for the Mini 1012. Reviewers stated that either poor touchpad feedback, difficult mouse buttons or even just being difficult to use were the bits they didn’t like about the touchpad.

Smaller Hard Drive – CNet picked up on the fact that their review model only had a 160Gb hard drive instead of the more usual 250Gb hard drive offered in competing systems. In the UK, there are 2 Dell Mini 1012 models, either a 160Gb hard drive version (with Windows XP) or a 250Gb hard drive model (with Windows 7), which is only £20 more.

Air Temperatures – back to Notebookcheck’s detailed testing and they spotted that the temperature of air emitted by the Mini 1012 was high.

No HDMI – Notebookcheck was disappointed by the lack of a HDMI port in the Mini 1012.

Webcam - Computer Shopper thought that the webcam was mediocre.

Upgrading Memory – Expert Reviews found that if you wanted to upgrade your memory from 1Gb to 2Gb of RAM then you would practically need to take the Mini 1012 apart so you could swap the memory, which they found difficult to do.

Dell Mini 1012 Overall Score

Overall Score – 86.5% (compiled from 4 top industry reviews)

This currently places the Dell Mini 1012 at an overall position of 4th in our netbook rankings from a total of 69 netbooks.

Dell Mini 1012 Reviewer Comments and Verdicts:

1. CNet – This retail version of Dell’s Mini 10 Netbook, called the iM1012-687OBK, has a great battery, but chances are it’s sitting on a shelf right next to a less expensive Netbook with a bigger hard drive.

2. Notebookcheck – Five and a half hours of runtime with 720p video clips and six and a half hours for surfing without using the HD chip. No other Nvidia Ion netbook bids such runtimes.

3. Expert Reviews – Its HD support might not be up to much and the touchpad’s annoying, but the high-resolution screen makes this a desirable choice.

4. Computer Shopper – This sturdy netbook delivers excellent battery life, not to mention color options and one of the best keyboards we’ve seen.

Dell Mini 1012 Reviews Used to Compile This Report:

1. CNet – posted on 18th March 2010 and gave the Dell 1012 7.4 out of 10.

2. Notebookcheck – posted on 2nd April 2010 and gave the Dell Mini 1012 86%.

3. Expert Reviews – posted on 23rd April and gave the Dell Mini 1012 5 stars out of 5.

4. Computer Shopper – posted in April 2010 and gave the Dell Mini 1012 8.6 out of 10.

Related posts:

Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:58:10 +0000

Rounding up the top 10 netbooks for students heading back to school or off to University – we’re looking for lightweight and stylish netbooks whilst making sure they have great battery life and are made from strong stuff – does such a netbook exist?

I know it feels like the summer holidays have only just started and there is a long time before school starts again in September. You don’t want to think about it but you need a netbook to help you with your school work when the new term starts. Or perhaps you are heading off to college or university in a month or two and need a portable computer for writing essays, reports and conducting research.

So if you are thinking about a new netbook to start the new school year in September then I hope this roundup of the best 10 netbooks will be as welcome as an A+ mark in your first test.

I reckon that the main features to look out for when choosing a netbook for a student at school, college or university are the following:

Good battery life – having a decent battery life is essential if the netbook is going to be used throughout the day, not always where there is a power supply close to hand.
Lightweight – nobody wants to carry a heavy laptop around with them all day. Having a lightweight netbook will ease the burden and have you skipping between lectures, lessons or lunch.
Good value for money, i.e. cheap – whoever is paying for the netbook will appreciate it if you get a lot of netbook for your (their) money.
Good design – nobody wants a netbook that looks like a brick or an old Amstrad from the 1980s.
Comfortable keyboard – if the netbook is going to be used properly to write essays, reports, conduct research and prepare for exams then having a comfortable keyboard to type on is pretty important.
Screen – we’re not so concerned about having a screen that looks good when playing DVDs whereas something you can view when outside or under bright fluorescent lights means that matte screens rather than glossy screens would probably be better.
Build quality – it is fair to say that a netbook carried around a school or college is possibly going to get knocked about a bit. This means a flimsy netbook will not be much good so we are looking for one with some sturdiness and good build quality.

So now we have an idea of what we are looking for, let’s have a look at the top 10 netbooks.

Continue reading: Top 10 Netbooks For Going Back To School

There are no related posts yet for this article.

Netbook Offers – Friday, 4th June 2010

Fantastic Netbooks — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:05:13 +0000

Netbook deals updated weekly - this week includes Samsung N210 with free accessories and software bundle worth £89

Throughout May there have been many great netbook offers and deals from cheap netbooks, big discounts, free netbooks with mobile broadband and even netbook and satnav bundles giving you great value and all available on our Netbook Deals page, updated weekly.

We started the month with an Asus 1005PE down to £269.00 and £100 off the Sony W Series netbook from PC World, which you can still get at only £299.99 inc. VAT. The PC World website says that deal ran out of 5th May but you can still grab it now.

The Samsung N220, a top 3 netbook in our netbook rankings, was reduced by Amazon UK down to £288.90 and you can still get it at that price. The Samsung N220 is pretty much the most popular netbook right now.

Then came another set of big reductions with £70 off a Dell Mini 1011 netbook from PC World and a massive £150 off the Acer Aspire One 751H from Amazon UK.

We rounded the month off with £40 off a HP Mini 210 at only £229 and the Samsung N150 down to £249.99 at PC World. Finally, the brand new Acer Aspire One 532H is just £259.95 at John Lewis, which is not only a good price but you also get free delivery and a free 2 year guarantee.

June has started off no different, straightaway we are presenting some great deals, including a Samsung N210 netbook with free netbook case and software bundle worth £89 from Amazon UK, a refurbished Dell Mini 9 (one of our top 10 ever netbooks) for just £179.97 and another top 10 netbook in the form of the Samsung N120, a Grade A1 (as new) netbook from Laptops Direct for only £229.97 inc. VAT when it is normally around £285. Go to Netbook Deals to find out more.

So have a look at our Netbook Deals page, updated weekly and sign up to our weekly netbook deals e-newsletter, which will be delivered to your inbox each week. If you are worried about the safety of your email address then please don’t, we will not sell or pass your email address onto anyone else.

If you have any feedback on our Netbook Deals section then please let us know in the comments, it would be great to hear from you.

Related posts:

Netbook Offers – Friday, 5th March 2010

Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Specification

Fantastic Netbooks — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:46:14 +0000

The Dell Mini 1012 gives us an updated spec. in the form of the Atom N450 processor and a 250Gb hard drive

The newest Dell Mini 10 arrives in the form of this Inspiron Mini 1012 model, which gives us an updated spec. including the Intel Atom N450 processor, a much longer battery life and a larger 250Gb hard drive.

There have been several versions of the Dell Mini 10 since it was first launched in 2008 and this time around it is brought bang up to date with the now customary pinetrail processor (Intel Atom N450), a 250Gb had drive and Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Although we still only have 1Gb RAM and 1024 x 600 resolution for the 10.1 inch screen there is a more expensive option that offers a 1366 x 768 screen. This premium model also comes with the Crystal HD Broadcom Media Accelerator for that added HD option, which is basically a bit of help when decoding 720p and 1080p HD video, something the Atom processor would normally struggle with.

The 6 cell battery in the Dell Mini 1012 coupled with the more efficient Atom N450 processor adds up to much more battery life than previous Mini 10 models. Dell quote up to 9.5 hours but we have revised this down to 8.5 hours in our specification, as based on early reviews of the 1012.

The Dell Mini 1012 is now available in the UK from PC World for £369.99 inc. VAT (correct as of 25th May 2010).

Here is the full Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 specification.

Continue reading: Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 Specification

Related posts:

Netbook Offers – Friday, 7th May 2010

Fantastic Netbooks — Sat, 08 May 2010 11:40:31 +0000

This great Sony Vaio VPMC11M1E/B netbook has a huge £100 off in our netbook deals

Our Netbook Deals has been updated this week with another 4 great offers on top netbooks.

There is a huge reduction of £100 on a Sony Vaio W-Series netbook so if you have always wanted a Sony Vaio but find them a bit too expensive then this may be your chance to grab a bargain. The Sony Vaio VPCM11M1E/B has an Atom N450 processor, Windows 7 Starter and a 250Gb hard drive. Go to Netbook Deals.

One of the best netbooks around at the moment, the Asus Eee PC 1005PE, also has 7% off and so can be picked up for a good price right now. The Asus 1005PE also has an N450 processor, Windows & Starter and a 250Gb hard drive but packs a whopping 11 hour battery life. Go to Netbook Deals.

Don’t want to pay for a netbook? Well then, you can get a free Dell 1011 netbook with Windows 7 Starter, Atom N450 processor, 160Gb hard drive and is in a lovely red colour. This netbook is free with Vodafone mobile broadband for just £25 per month. Go to Netbook Deals.

Also take a look at the latest voucher codes for further reductions including 3% off all orders at PC World, 10% of all hard drives and 10% of all printers. Go to the netbook deals to pick up the codes.

You can also sign up to our weekly netbook deals e-newsletter, which will be delivered to your inbox each week. If you are worried about the safety of our email address then please don’t, we will not sell or pass your email address onto anyone else.

If you have any feedback on our Netbook Deals section then please let us know in the comments, it would be great to hear from you.

Related posts:

40 Netbooks Ranked

Fantastic Netbooks — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:08:51 +0000

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 - one of the netbooks added to our updated netbook rankings

We hit the big four-oh with the top 40 major netbooks ranked in order according to the scores awarded to them in real reviews.

There have been some tough reviews this time around since we last updated the netbook rankings in early August with several of the top netbooks falling up to 15 places.

The following new netbook models have been added this time around to build our chart up to 40 netbooks in total:

Lenovo IdeaPad S12
ViewSonic VNB101
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2
Gateway LT3103u
MSI Wind U123

The highest new entry of these 5 netbooks is number 23 but which one is it? Click through to the netbook rankings chart to find out. One of the new additions is also propping up the netbook rankings table so keep your eye out for that one.

Along with the new additions, we have updated scores for several of the existing chart entries as new reviews are released. The movers and shakers this time around are as follows:

HP 5101 – up 7 places
Acer Aspire One 531 – down a huge 15 places due to some harsh reviews
Samsung N310 – down 4 places
Acer Aspire One D250 – down 1 place
Asus Eee PC 1008HA – down 4 places
Acer Aspire One 751 – stays in the same position
Asus Eee PC 1005HA – down 7 places
Asus Eee PC 1101HA – down 1 place
Dell Inspiron Mini 10 – stays in the same position
MSI Wind U115 Hybrid – up 1 place
HP Mini 110 – stays in the same position
Samsung N110 – up 3 places
Toshiba NB205 – up 3 places
Samsung N120 – up 4 places
Asus Eee PC T91 – down 9 places due to some harsh reviews

What this means is that there are several golden oldies at the top of the rankings and you can pick some of these up for an absolute steal in our Netbook Deals section or purchase them in our new Netbook Shop.

Continue reading: 40 Netbooks Ranked

Related posts:

We Rank The Top 35 Netbooks

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:50:42 +0000

Asus Eee PC T91 netbook

Our netbook rankings has now grown to include the top 35 netbooks, which are ranked in order according to the scores awarded to them in real reviews.

The overall best netbooks chart is constantly updated as new reviews are released by well respected sites such as Trusted Reviews, Laptopmag and PC Advisor. We collate the scores and provide an average based on the number of reviews to arrive at the overall score and so find out which is the best overall netbook.

The following new netbook models have been added this time around to keep building our chart:

One of these netbooks has gained a coveted top 3 place. Click through to the netbook rankings chart to find out which one.

Along with the new additions, we have updated scores for several of the existing chart entries as new reviews are released. The movers and shakers this time around are as follows:

Find out where these netbooks placed in our updated netbook rankings charts.

Continue reading: We Rank The Top 35 Netbooks

Related posts:

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 vs Inspiron Mini 10 vs Inspiron Mini 12 comparison

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:08:10 +0000

Dell Inspiron Mini 10

The Dell netbook comparison – the Inspiron Mini 9, Inspiron Mini 10 and Inspiron Mini 12 have their main features compared.

Dell is one of the few manufacturers to not always conform to the standard netbook specification and has used a number of different processors, hard disks, screens and operating systems in the netbooks that it has produced.

We compare the Windows XP versions of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9, the Mini 10 and Mini 12 against each other and there are perhaps a few surprises.

Which Dell netbook would you go for? The smaller and lightweight Inspiron Mini 9 or the largest netbook (some would say not even a netbook at all), the Inspiron Mini 12? Or perhaps the Inspiron Mini 10?

Continue reading: Dell Inspiron Mini 9 vs Inspiron Mini 10 vs Inspiron Mini 12 comparison

Related posts:

6 Netbooks Added to Netbook Rankings

Fantastic Netbooks — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:18:25 +0000

We are steadily adding more netbooks to our netbook rankings and 6 more netbooks are now taking pride of place in our charts.

Our overall ranking chart now includes 24 individual netbooks, which are ranked according to the scores awarded to them in real reviews. We collate the scores and provide an average based on the number of reviews to arrive at the overall score and so find out which is the best overall netbook.

This week we have dipped into a couple of models from last year as well as some of the newest netbooks to be released in order to round out our charts. The netbooks that have been added are:

Dell Inspiron Mini 10
Dell Inspiron Mini 12
Samsung N110
Asus Eee PC 904HD
Asus Eee PC 901
HP Mini 1000

Find out where these netbooks place in our updated netbook rankings charts.

Continue reading: 6 Netbooks Added to Netbook Rankings

Related posts:

Netbook Rankings updated with new models

Fantastic Netbooks — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:10:20 +0000

Our netbook rankings tables have been updated to include several newly released models including – Samsung N310, Asus Eee PC 2008HA Seashell and the Acer Aspire 531.

We have also added a few netbooks previously released including the Lenovo S10e, MSI Wind U120, Asus Eee PC 1000H and Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

These netbooks have been added to the Overall Score, Lightest Netbook and Longest Battery life rankings so you can see at a glance which netbook is the best in each category.

Click here to see our updated netbook rankings.

As we add more reviews and more netbooks to this site these netbook league tables will be regularly updated to help us determine the best netbook in each category and the top netbook overall.

And let us know what future netbook rankings you would like to see. Would a league table for best screen or best keyboard be useful to you, how would you measure which one was best? Any feedback is more than welcome and we will respond to any comments you leave.

Find the latest netbooks at the lowest prices at our Netbook Shop.

Related posts: